The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25[dot]com

Prompt: Tent
Pen Name: Kimmydonn
Pairing/Main Character(s): Berty/Goff
Rating: 18A

This is a multi-chapter story

Photo prompts can be viewed here:
thetwilight25[dot]com/round-six/prompts

Bernice crashed hard when she got home. The jet lag that had barely slowed her in Italy felt like a lead weight holding her to her bed. She had checked her messages briefly, but there was little waiting for her. School would start again next week. Until then, she pulled the covers up further and dreamed of Rome.

Tony tossed his keys on his counter and dropped his bags in the entry. He left them there as he flopped face first on his bed. Only stopping to brush his glasses off, he slept deeper than he had been able to on the plane.

He woke groggily around ten that night. Stumbling in the dark, he fished around for something canned or dry to eat. Everything else had been pitched before he flew home. He noticed the phone blinking at him and hit the speaker button while he dug in cupboards.

"Hey, Tony, it's Bernice."

"Ow! Fuck!" he cursed as he banged his head on the cupboard door. He listened to the message about her contest win. He would have never guessed she was so close while he was in England. Only a little further than San Diego was from Forks. He wished he'd known. He would have hopped the Chunnel and made his way to her.

The next message was Bernice as well and Tony realized he hadn't told her about his sudden trip home. After the fourth message, he felt like idiot. He picked up the handset to call her, but noticed the time just before her dialed. She'd be asleep. He'd have to wait until morning. On the other hand, the way the calls tapered off, maybe she'd rather he didn't call.

Appetite abandoning him, Tony flopped into a chair and turned on the TV.

Bernice sipped her herbal tea, praying it would help her get back to sleep. She had to get her schedule straightened out—and fast. She hadn't gotten to the phone in time for Shelly Cope's call, but the message told her enough. She was needed to help set up the welcome tent before classes started. Shelly hoped she'd be there tomorrow for preparations and reminded her that she'd missed the end of term when the selections for the particular chore were made.

Bernice wrinkled her nose, at the message and the tea. It was already midnight and she felt wide awake. She did not want to go back to work tomorrow. Setting the tea on the end table, she tucked her feet under her and flipped through the copy of Dante she had bought in Italy. Maybe reading a foreign language would work as well as counting sheep.

Tony cussed at his TV and chucked the remote at it. It bounced off ineffectually. Why wasn't there anything on at two in the morning, anyway? There could at least be some light porn independent film or something. He walked back to the kitchen and looked at the paper stuck under one of the magnets.

"Fucking, cock-sucking, shit, shit, shit." He slammed his fist against the notice. He'd forgotten he'd been volun-told to set up the welcome tent. That meant going in tomorrow. He desperately needed sleep. Taking a shot of Walker, he went to his room to at least lie down for the next five hours.

Bernice wore her sunglasses in the morning. It wasn't bright, but she was afraid she'd frighten someone with her bloodshot eyes. She hadn't slept and now felt barely awake. Why did classes start in August anyway? Shouldn't they start in September? She seemed to remember they used to start in September. She didn't trust herself to drive and hoped the walk and a coffee picked up on the way would help her through the next few hours. How long could it possibly take to put up a tent, right?

Tony pulled into the lot, narrowly missing the Principal's car. What in the hell was he doing here today? He was definitely not on tent duty. He found out when he opened the door to the school, intent on finding the supplies and getting out of there as soon as possible.

Mike Greene sat at his desk, making paper cranes. Tony could just barely see him through the windows of the office. He knocked on the glass and Mike jumped, scattering origami paper in a shower of color.

"Berty, what are you doing here?"

"Tent," was all Tony said.

"Oh, right, that's today. Um...personal project."

"How far are you?"

"Huh?"

"How many cranes? I assume you're aiming for a thousand," he said, referring to the Japanese superstition.

"About fifty. I really suck at it."

"Well, I'll let you get back to it. Remind me, where do we keep that monstrosity the rest of the year?"

"Gym. Under the stage. Here, I'll come help you."

While Tony and Mike worked to free the canvas and poles, Bernice headed straight to the courtyard. Janice Gold was there with a folding table that held a few gardening tools.

"Hey, Janice," Bernice said. "You get roped into this, too?"

"Yeah, bad year for me, prom and the tent." The other teacher shook her head in frustration and started clearing the area, working moss and grass away from the fittings that stayed in the ground year-round.

Bernice headed in a different direction doing the same thing. "No kidding. How was the prom?"

"Actually," Janice stopped, looking around for observers, "I don't really know. I ditched early."

Bernice laughed loudly, dropping one of the trowels. "That good. How about the summer? Was it better?"

"Very. We took a trip to the Grand Canyon and Vegas. Sort of a second honeymoon."

Bernice stood long enough to stretch her back and smile at Janice. "Sounds great. I won trip, if you can believe it. While I was in San Diego. I spent the last two weeks in Rome."

"You didn't! How wonderful. Did you bring anything back?"

"Just pictures." Bernice thought about the copy of Dante on her table.

Mike left Tony once the tent had been wrestled out. Tony carried the large and awkward bundle, unable to see in front of him. Balancing on one foot, he kicked the bar to open the door to the courtyard.

"Ah, and here comes the tent," he heard a female voice say. He wasn't positive who it was.

Bernice spared only a glance for the man covered in tarpaulin. She bent back to working the moss out of one of the posts.

Tony dropped the bundle with a series of clanks. The poles wrapped in the tent jangled and one fell out. He found the source of the voice, Janice Gold, working to free one of the posts nearest him. He grabbed the first pole and made his way to her.

He stood behind her, holding the tent pole and waiting for her to finish. He noticed another woman working on the other side of the courtyard. Her dark hair hung in a tail down her back and she stood, arching her back to stretch it.

"Bernice," he whispered, then dropped the pole, running over to her.

Bernice arched her back, wiping her forehead before moving to the next post. She was shocked when arms wrapped around her from behind.

"What?"

"Bernice," Tony said into her hair, one arm around the top of her breasts, the other around her waist. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I should have come to San Diego. I should have told you I leaving."

Bernice's hands gripped the arm around her chest. "Tony? Leaving?" she asked confused. He released her enough to turn around but kept his arms around her.

"I went home. They were saying so many things." He held her tight, speaking directly into her ear. It tickled a little. She could feel the bristles on his cheek. He mustn't have shaved that morning. "I hoped they'd forget, hoped they'd leave you, us, alone. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Bernice chuckled. "So you weren't just avoiding me?"

He backed up enough to meet her eye. "Never. I missed you so much. I wished you were with me, that I'd been with you."

Bernice felt tears prick her eyes and fought them back. "I missed you, too. I brought you back a present," she admitted.

He tightened his hold again. "I don't need anything. I just want you. God, I missed you."

Bernice was awed. This was...so much more than they'd shared. She'd been afraid of frightening him with emotions this strong. Now she was frightened of something else. She knew she should tell him about Alberto, but she was afraid of pushing him away. This was new and she liked it.

"Ahem," came from across the courtyard. Janice approached warily. "I didn't really want to interrupt, but I've cleared the other posts. We can put the tent up." She smiled. "Sooner it's up, sooner you get to go home," she said with a smile. "To do something unusual?" she said to Tony with a grin.

"Unusual," he murmured, remembering his last conversation with Janice. He definitely wanted to do something unusual with Bernice. "Let's get this blasted thing up." He ran back to the pole that lay on the ground, fitting into a post.

Janice chuckled and grabbed two others, passing one to Bernice. "He told me you two weren't serious," she scoffed, shaking her head.

Bernice nearly dropped the pole. "What did he say?"

"That you were seeing each other casually, but well, that wasn't a casual reaction."

Bernice held the pole for another moment, enjoying the warm feeling spreading through her middle. She'd been worried about overwhelming him, but he'd nearly overwhelmed her. She slid the pole into place and returned to the tarp to grab another.

"Got this," Tony said with a grin, picking up three at once and trotting around the courtyard.

"Guess that leaves us with the canvas. Help me unfold?" Janice asked.

Fortunately, Tony's careless treatment of the tent hadn't tangled it badly and the ladies were able to spread it over the open area between the poles.

Tony had to rein in his enthusiasm after knocking the tent down three times while the ladies tried to pull it up. Finally he busied himself with the center pole, keeping it straight while they tightened.

"That's it," Janice encouraged him. "Hold it steady. It looks like it's leaning right."

Bernice took off her sunglasses and craned her neck. "Looks good from this side."

Tony let the pole go. It tilted to the right.

"Here," he told Janice. "You hold it, I'll get the line." He met Bernice at the corner of the tent. She held the line taut while he tied it down.

"Done," he said exuberantly, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down to the grass where he knelt. He leaned over her and put his face close enough to kiss.

She laughed as her sunglasses, back on her eyes again, slipped up and off her head. "Done," she agreed, running her hands up the back of his neck, into his hair, pulling him closer.

He stopped just before their lips met. "I love you," he said, holding his breath.

Bernice's mind raced. Love. Love. That was what Christopher had claimed. Love had never been real, couldn't be real. Love.

"Shh," Tony whispered. "I shouldn't have said it."

"Because you didn't mean it?" Bernice asked.

"No, I meant it, but you...we aren't there. I didn't mean to...Don't feel something you don't. That's me. I've stopped lying to myself, but I didn't mean to say it to you."

Bernice closed her eyes, still not understanding. It was the lack of sleep, the change of time, she just wasn't thinking straight.

"Tony, why don't I want a husband and a baby?" She had to be off her rocker. Why would she say that?

"It's contagious!" he said with a grin. "Now you're saying things without thinking."

When she started to object, he pressed his lips to hers. Slipping his hands between her and the ground, he pulled her against him, luxuriating in the feel of her curves, her warmth, her breath against his. His tongue touched her lips, wanting to taste her.

Bernice felt like a door opened when Tony kissed her. Like all the pent up worry and frustration was blown out and she was swept away, flying on a current that ran directly to him. She tightened her hands in his hair, pulling herself closer, wishing they lived somewhere warmer, somewhere they would both be wearing less clothes.

Tony broke the kiss first, gasping. "Holy shit." Then he took a deep breath and started kissing her again.

Bernice fought playfully. "Tony! We're outside. Janice is probably right behind you."

He stopped long enough to look over his shoulder. "Nope, she's gone." He set Bernice lightly on the grass and began attacking her shirt where it tucked into her jeans.

"Tony, wait," she said, holding his hand where it touched her belly. "I have to let you know. There was a man in Italy."

"Oh," he said with disappointment. "You don't want..."

"I didn't say that," she said with a smile. "I just had to tell you. It was one night, and I felt terrible the whole time."

"Why?" he asked, brushing the hair that had escaped her tail off her face.

Her smile broadened. "Because he wasn't you."

Tony groaned and resumed his quest to rid her of clothing. Bernice was nearly as dogged in pulling his belt free.

"I think I love you, too," she whispered, afraid and excited all at once.

"You don't have to," he said. "Really, I didn't mean to-"

"I know." She kicked her jeans off her foot. "I've been afraid since Christopher, unable to believe in love." She lifted her arms so he could pull off her shirt. "Make me believe," she murmured, pulling him down to her.

"Oh, Bernice," he whispered. "I'll believe enough for both of us." He thought he might cry, but that seemed ridiculous. He'd never been this happy in his life. Carefully, reverently, he ran a hand up the outside of her thigh. His nose found the hollow of her cheek and he followed it, kissing her ear. He lay between her legs and couldn't imagine any place he'd rather be. "I'll make it true."

"Make it true," she agreed, lifting her legs to wrap around his hips. He was so close, but the ache wasn't in her groin, it was in her chest.

"Stay with me," he begged as he kissed her, still tantalizingly close. He thought he might go mad if he didn't thrust into her, but he needed this more. "Be with me, forever."

The ache twisted, becoming warm, just like when Janice had mentioned they were serious, just like when Tony had been so eager to hold her. "Forever," she agreed tilting her hips and touching him to her.

Forever might only be tomorrow, Bernice thought, but it'll seem like forever if I'm with you.

Forever will not be long enough, Tony thought, not now that I know what I have.